Broken Souls
by Everybody-Lies2
Summary: Set after 3x22. Outlaw Queen. After Marian comes back, Regina is heartbroken once again. No one has seen the Queen for 5 days, since she magically locked herself in her mansion. And Robin, despite being a man of honor, isn't as happy about his wife's return as he should be. They will both try to stay away from each other. But there's a reason you can't live without your soulmate!
1. Chapter 1

_Five days._

It had been five days since Emma brought back Robin's wife from the dead. Well, not from the dead technically, more like saved her from a certain death. Not that it made any difference to Regina. The outcome was the same : she was alone once again.

It really shouldn't have come as a surprise to the Queen. Daniel had been killed by her mother. Henry had preferred Emma. Even though, they now were on better terms, at least they had been before the Savior brought back Marian, it still hurt her to think about the time when her son chose his biological mother over the one who raised him for 10 years. And now, Robin had returned to his first love. In retrospect, she should have expected it. After all, things always come in threes.

When Regina had first met the outlaw in Storybrooke, she had felt an instant connection, even before she saw the tattoo on his wrist. That was why she had asked him to guard her heart while she fought Zelena on Main Street, and why she had later given him her heart to protect for an undefinite period of time. He had been doing pretty well until Rumpelstiltskin showed up and threatened Roland's life. Robin had been forced to surrender her heart, a decision Regina could never hold against him because a parent's duty was to protect their child no matter what.

The turning point in their relationship had been when she kissed him on the very same day he gave up her heart. Truth be told, she still wasn't sure why she had done it. Perhaps it had been Zelena telling her she didn't take risks and live her life. Perhaps it had been Snow telling her that she felt things with her whole soul and that she would find her way to happiness someday. Anyway, after that awful day with her mother's ghost, she had felt bold and had gone to the woods. Kissing him had not been her first intention, she had just wanted to speak with him, but after hearing him apologize again, she had just grabbed him by the collar and shut him up with a passionnate kiss. Seconds later, when they had parted, she had briefly wondered what possessed her to do that, immediately regretting her behavior for it was so unlike her but Robin had put an end to these thoughts by kissing her again.

As the days had passed, Regina couldn't remember ever feeling like he made her feel. With Daniel, it had been sweet and innocent. With Robin, it was intense and mature. But they both could tell that it wasn't just a physical relationship, it wasn't just lust, it was something far greater that they hadn't felt since their first loves died. It was _love_. Robin knew he was falling hard for the Queen and Regina knew she felt the same. And even though neither spoke the three-words phrase, their love had shone through their eyes, smiles and touches.

They had made love only once, the night when she had told him about the lion tattoo. It had been like a burden lifted from her shoulders because she hadn't known how he would react. She had been relieved when he kissed her after telling her that maybe things worked out when they were supposed to and that maybe it was all about timing. For less than 24 hours, Regina had actually believed that until she had seen her supposed soulmate hug his supposed dead wife the next day. She hadn't been able to look at him anymore so she had left the diner and walked home.

She had spent the night crying, curled up in her bed. The former Evil Queen shedding tears for a thief, it was truly pathetic, she had thought. She hadn't gotten any sleep at all and had no intention of getting out of bed. However, when she had heard knocks on her door along with Tinkerbell's voice, she had risen from her bed to look through her window. Sure enough, the fairy had been there, with Henry who had been about to use his key to let himself in. In a split second, the broken-hearted woman had put up a magical barrier so that no one could enter her mansion, not even her son. She couldn't let anyone see her in such a weak state, her pride would not allow it.

It had been five days, and Regina was still locked inside her house. Snow, Emma, Henry and Tink had come by several times but she hadn't let them in. When they had tried calling her or sending text messages, she hadn't listened nor read them. So Emma and Tink had tried to break the barrier with their magic, without success.

On Day 5, Rumpelstiltskin was standing in front of her house with the Charmings (minus Henry), Hook, Tink and Belle. They would have fetched him sooner but Mr. and Mrs. Gold had just returned from their very short honeymoon, because the royal family had called him saying they needed him urgently. He didn't consider Regina locking herself in as something important but Belle had convinced him otherwise.

"Can you break it ?" Emma asked impatiently. She was feeling guilty because it was her fault Regina's happy ending had been taken away. She couldn't be completely happy about her new relationship with Hook, knowning that she was responsible for breaking Regina's heart, even if it had been unintentional. She also didn't want the Queen to revert to her evil ways. It was a possibility that kept her awake at night. She wasn't the only one worried. The citizens of Storybrooke had also noticed the Queen's absence. They wondered where she was, what she was doing and why.

The "Why" was easy to guess. Regina and Robin had not hidden their affection for each other. They had kissed in public places, and even though they had made sure no one was around, they were still people to catch a glimpse. Plus, the outlaw's constant presence by the Queen's side was a dead giveaway.

The "Where" was only known to the people closest to her. The Charmings were trying to keep the mayor's situation a secret. Of course, many citizens suspected the Queen was locked in her mansion. Some said she was hiding in her vault, others said she had left the town. But no one knew she had put up a barrier around her house to prevent any intrusion.

The "What" was a mystery to all, friends and family as well as strangers. What was the Queen doing ? Was she dead ? Did she take a memory potion to forget her pain ? Was she plotting her revenge against the Savior ? Or did she plan on killing Marian ? All those questions were left unanswered because no one knew what Regina was up to.

"Don't worry, Rumpelstiltskin is the most powerful wizard in this realm. He's the one who taught Regina magic. He'll break it." Snow told her daughter, confidently. She was also worried for her stepmother but, unlike the rest of the town, she didn't believe Regina would return to being evil, nor that she would come after Emma. Snow knew it had taken a long time for the Queen to feel something other than rage and pain, and to want something else than revenge. Regina had battled for a long time but she was finally at a point where she was a good person. She had managed to fight the darkness within herself and found her way to light. If using light magic against Zelena was any indication, she had succeeded. No, Snow was not worried for Emma or Marian's life, nor for any other Storybrooke's citizens. What Snow feared was the damage Regina would do to herself. She knew the mayor was a survivor, she had lived through the pain of losing Daniel twice. But Snow knew that having the most resilient heart didn't mean it was unbreakable. The Princess just hoped that it could still be mended because if it couldn't Henry would probably lose another parent and she would lose her stepmother.

"Well, I'm afraid to disappoint you dearie, but I can't undo the spell." Rumple turned to the group standing behind him. Before they had time to ask, he explained. "You see, magic is about emotion. The stronger the emotion, the stronger the magic. When Regina was Evil, her magic was powered by her anger toward Snow. When she defeated Zelena, her magic was strong because of her love for Henry." And for the outlaw, he thought, but decided against speaking it out loud.

"And now, her magic comes from her pain over losing her soulmate," Tink said, before he had a chance to continue. So much for not bring the thief into this. Wait, what had she said...

"Her soulmate ?" David repeated, surprised. He wasn't the only one. The others were just as shocked as him. Regina and Robin being in love was one thing, but them being true love was quite another. "I thought Daniel was her true love."

The fairy answered. "Daniel was her first love, Regina always thought he was her true love. Truth is she was very young and she loved him very much. But just because you think it's true love, doesn't mean it is."

"Are you saying Daniel wasn't her true love ?" Snow asked, bewildered. After all, Regina had hunted her down for years and cursed an entire kingdom for him.

"No. Look, I never met Daniel. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. It is possible to find another true love. What I'm saying is that Robin is not just her true love, he's her soulmate." Tink insisted. She looked at them but they seemed even more confused, except for Rumple.

"Soulmate ? Are you sure ?" he pondered.

"Yes. I used pixie dust on Regina and it led her to Robin."

"Wow, wow, slow down." Emma told them. "There's a difference between true love and soulmates ?" She expected an answer from Tink or Rumple. Instead, it came from Belle.

"Yes. I remember I read about it in your library, Rumple. Basically, a true love is someone you care deeply for, someone that you love so much you would do anything for them, even die. True love isn't just between lovers, it can be between a parent and a child, like when you..." She glanced at Emma "broke the curse when you kissed Henry."

"Yeah, like Regina broke the second curse by kissing Henry too," Emma commented.

"Exactly," Belle went on. "But a soulmate is someone you are meant for, someone without whom you can never be whole. The soulmate is like the ultimate true love if you want. You can have many true loves in your life, but only one can ever be your soulmate." She saw Tinkerbell nod. Everybody else, except for her husband and the fairy, was dumbstruck.

"How come we've never heard of this before ?" Hook wondered. This was a valid question to which the others also wanted the answer.

"Well," Rumple started "Soulmates are extremely rare. I've heard of it, but having never witnessed it, I thought it was a myth." He paused. "True love and soulmates are often mistaken for the same thing. Everyone has at least one true love, the problem is finding it and some people never find it. But when you do find it, your love creates what is considered the most powerful form of magic because it can break any curse. True love is about magic whereas soulmates is about fate. But not everyone has a soulmate. I don't know what determines that some people have one and some don't. What I do know is it's like a higher power created one soul, split it in two and put it in two different people that are destined to look for each other until they are reunited."

"I still don't see the bloody difference !" Hook frowned, waving his hand in the air.

Rumple rolled his eyes. He had enough of those brainless idiots and was about to give the pirate a piece of his mind until Belle put an hand on his arm to prevent him from saying, or worst doing, something stupid. He turned to her and he immediately understood the meaning of her look, silently asking him to behave himself. Then she turned her head back to the group.

"Because you can have several true loves, if you lose one, you feel pain and grief. It hurt like hell but you eventually get throught it. You learn to live without your true love." Belle explained. "But if you have a soulmate, it's not the same. As long as you haven't met your soulmate, you don't notice any change, you live your life unaware that there is one person meant for you and for you only. From the moment you meet this person, everything changes. If they die, chances are you will soon follow them into the grave. That's why soulmates either die young or grown old together. But the most important part is that if, for whatever reason, you resist the pull toward your soulmate, you aren't only miserable, you become different."

"Different how ?" Emma wanted to know.

"I don't know. The books I read were very vague on this subject. But I guess, if Regina and Robin really are soulmates, we'll know soon enough."

No one liked the sound of that. Everybody was lost in thought for a moment, until they heard a voice. "So, did you do it ?" They turned around to see Henry running toward them, his schoolbag on his right shoulder.

Emma recovered first. "Hey kid, are you supposed to be at school ?" She hadn't wanted him to be here. The whole situation was taking its toll on him. He was trying to stay strong for his mom, but the fact that she hadn't talked to him in days wasn't helping.

"I skipped class," he replied quickly. "So, did you break the spell ?" he asked again, an hopeful look in his eyes.

Emma hated to break his spirit. "No, sorry." She shook her head, a sad smile on her face.

Henry sighed and cast a look toward the house. He wasn't going to try, it was useless anyway. He had tried to reach her in every possible way since she had locked herself in, but she hadn't acknowledged him. He would just have to wait for her to come out. He turned around, ready to leave.

"Wait, where are you going ?" David sensed his grandson's sorrow.

"Back to school," he answered without turning to face them.

"Why don't we go to Granny's, I bet baby Neal misses you," Snow offered. She had left her son with Ruby at the diner.

"Nah. I'm good. I'll see you tonight." Henry left, hurriedly.

"I really screwed up." Emma sighed heavily, looking at her parents. Neither of them responded, for they didn't know what to say. On the other hand, Tinkerbell really wanted to agree with her. Regina was the closest thing to a best friend she had and the fairy hadn't been pleased to hear about the Savior bringing back Robin's wife.

"Don't worry, Swan. We defeated Pan and the Witch. Getting the Queen out of her castle is child's play compare to that," Hook smiled, trying to lighten the mood, in vain.

"Let's go. We can't stay here. It will draw suspicion." Snow said, taking David's hand. She thanked Rumple for his help. "We'll have to find other way." She was as disappointed as Henry, Tink and Emma. "We'll talk about this later, ok ?" She didn't wait for an answer and walk away with her husband. The others soon followed.

Unfortunately, today was not the day they would get Regina out of her mansion.

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**Hello, readers !**

**I hope you liked this first chapter. **

**Please leave a review/feedback to let me know what you think, what you liked or didn't liked (or if I should even continue this story ^^). Any constructive criticism is welcome.**

**Also, I didn't tell you this at the beginning but English is not my mother tongue (in case you hadn't noticed). I checked and re-checked several times, but if there are any mistakes or weird turns of phrases, I apologize.**

**For me, there is a difference between true love and soulmate. ****That's my take on it, but you can choose to agree or disagree, or believe something else entirely. But for the purpose of this story, the difference is as it is explained in this chapter.**

**Not much Regina and Robin in this chapter, but don't worry it will come. **

**Thanks for reading! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, readers !**

**I want to thank all those who reviewed, favorited and followed this story. I'm really glad you liked the beginning. And I loved your kind reviews. So thank you so much, it's good to know I don't write for nothing. :)**

**I hope you'll enjoy this chapter !**

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The night had fallen.

Hours before, Regina had felt Rumple's magic trying to break her protection spell, but she hadn't moved from her spot, on Henry's bedroom floor.

She was still sitting there. Her heart held tight in her right hand and a void in her eyes to match the one in her chest. She looked at the beating organ. Since she had seen Robin embrace his wife, she had thought a hundred times about crushing it and be done with it. But she was a coward and couldn't bring herself to do it. Not for the own sake, but for her son's. Henry had just lost Neal, he couldn't lose another parent.

So she had fought the urge of ending her life ever since she had locked herself inside her mansion. She had ripped her heart out after she had raised the magical barrier up and hadn't put it back in since then. Leaving it carelessly here and there, picking it up only a few times and squeezing it to remind herself that she wasn't completely numb to any feeling, even if it was only pain. But she had always stopped herself before going to far, Henry's face popping in her mind with a disapproval look.

She had spent the first two days of her isolation crying over Robin and the life they could have had together until she had no more tears to shed. Ripping her heart out, it seemed, didn't lessen the pain of losing the man she loved, not even a little bit.

When she had heard her stomach growl begging for sustenance, she had forced herself to go downstairs to the kitchen. As she had passed through her living room, she had seen the remaining of their picnic laid on the table in front of the chimney. She had paused for a moment, before deciding to clean it out. But when she had picked up the two glasses of wine, she had frozen, thinking back to this particular night. Suddenly, she had felt a wave of anger wash over her. She had thrown them into the chimney and before she knew it, she had turned upside down the whole room.

She had sighed heavily before sliding to the nearest wall. She was angry at Emma for bringing Marian back and she was mad at Robin for completely disregarding her. But most of all, she was angry with herself. How many times had she heard or said those words : _Villains don't get happy ending_. Yet, with Robin she had believed differently. Perhaps she had finally redeemed herself enough to deserve to love someone and to be loved in return. Now, she could still hear her mother's voice, _you foolish girl_. Yes, she had been a fool...in love. Now, she was just a brokenhearted fool you had lost her soulmate. And she knew that if she couldn't be with him then there was no hope left for her of ever finding someone else.

Sitting on Henry's bedroom floor, she could see the moonlight reflecting on her heart. She knew what she had to do, even if she didn't want to. She had to be strong no matter what. She got up and went to sit on her son's bed. Taking a deep breath, she put it back inside her chest. For a long moment, she was overcome by her emotions and had a hard time breathing. Closing her eyes, she forced herself to calm down. It took her a few minutes but when she felt her control was enough, she stood up once again and walked to the window.

Truth is, she would have stayed hidden for a few more days if she had been able to. Unfortunately, shortly after the sun had set down, her magic barrier had collapsed all of a sudden. She had no idea why. She only knew that her magic was becoming instable, and very much so. She had realized she couldn't postpone going out into the world anymore than she already had.

She had to see her son, as well as the rest of her dysfunctional family. She hadn't thought about it before, but now she was ashamed she hadn't answered their calls or at least given them a sign she was still alive. She didn't want their pity of course, but she knew deep down that Henry would be worrying sick. And as much as she hated to think about it, no doubt his grandmother would feel the same. They had finally reached a good point in their relationship. Despite Snow's annoying optimism, Regina was glad she had been able to make amends with the Princess. She would have to talk to them as soon as possible, to apologize if nothing else. Because she didn't intend to talk about either Robin or what had occurred at the diner.

Yes, the Queen had ruminated her thoughts long enough during these five days. And she had come to a conclusion : she had finally accepted that she would never find a romantic love again. Her few days with Robin had been some of the happiest in her life, despite Zelena's threat hanging over their heads. But now, reality had kicked in and it was time to let him go. Because there was no way Robin would ever choose her over his Marian. So she would let him go without putting up a fight, mostly because she knew she wasn't worth the trouble anyway.

Therefore, she would make things easier for him and avoid him as much as she could. To the untrained eye she would look fine, but inside she would bleed. She would stay strong for her little prince because a parent's duty was to protect their child no matter what. Her love for her son would have to be enough. _Because being happy with somebody else just wasn't meant for her..._

_Because what goes around comes around. _She had only herself to blame for her misery, she thought as she left the room.

She spent the rest of the night cleaning up the mess in her living room. When morning came, she changed her clothes and put some makeup on. Then she examined herself in her full length mirror. She was wearing a simple black tight dress with black high heels. And if someone was to look at her face, they would never guess the state she had been in for the past days. Satisfied that she looked like the usual strong mayor of this town, she went downstairs, ready to leave. She put her gray coat and a blue scarf on before opening her front door to step out into the world once again.

She was aware people must have noticed her absence and would talk upon seeing her but she didn't really care. While driving, she had half a mind to drop by her office, just to delay the inevitable, but she decided against it, instead making her way directly to the Charmings' loft.

It's past 10 a.m when she stood in front of their apartment. Despite the fear that Henry would be mad at her, she realized that she had missed her son and couldn't wait to see him. She knocked a few times, hoping that Emma wouldn't be the one to open the door because she really didn't want to deal with her right now.

She was about to knock again when it swung open.

Snow stared at her, jaw-dropping. But to her credit, the Princess recovered quickly and a shy smile appeared on her face. Her stepmother had finally decided to come out of hiding.

"Regina, hi." She decided to keep the conversation casual. She resisted the strong urge to pull her into her arms and to tell her that everything would be alright because she knew Regina didn't care for trivial words of comfort. The Queen had come here on her own and she would talk if and when she was ready. Regina was like a little bird, if you scared her away, chances are she wouldn't come back, at least not easily. So Snow vowed to herself not to press the issue.

"Snow." She greeted her with a nod. Slightly hesitant, she added, "May I come in ?".

"Of course." And she stepped out of the way to let her pass.

Regina took a few steps in and looked around before turning to the other woman. "No one's home ?"

"No. Just me." She closed the door. Knowing full well why she had come, she answered the silent question. "But Henry will be back in a few minutes, he went to buy some groceries." Regina threw her a grateful look.

They stood awkardly at the entrance for a few seconds, before Snow suggested they sit down, invoking her recent pregnancy. Regina quickly realized that with everything that had happened she had completely forgotten the newborn baby.

"How's Neal doing ?"

Snow stopped at the question, suddenly remembering her baby was sleeping in the next room, his crib near his parent's bed. A brilliant idea crossed her mind. "I'll get him." Children had a way to lift Regina's spirit like no other.

"No, wait." The Queen demanded. She cast a glance toward the bedroom. "Isn't he sleeping ?"

"Yes, but he's been doing that for a long time. Plus, he'll be happy to see you." She smiled, making her way to her boy.

Regina shook her head slightly, smirking to herself. As if a baby could remember anything, much less be happy to see her. Parenthood was making the Charmings even more idiotic than before, she thought.

Snow walked back with Neal, cradling him against her chest. He kept wailing, probably unhappy because his mother had woken him up. On her way to Regina, she tried to shush him but it seemed the little prince was as stubborn as any of his family members.

"Why don't you hold him ?" She didn't wait for an answer and placed the baby in Regina's arms. "He's hungry. I'll get his milk."

While Snow looked for the baby's bottle, Regina began to rock lightly back and forth on her feet, in an attempt to soothe him. She usually couldn't stand crying, but she couldn't exactly hold it against a baby since it was considered a normal behavior for them and their only way of communicating with their parents in the early stages of their lives. She hummed a soft lullaby with no real rhythm to it. Within seconds, Neal calmed down, still perfectly awake. She smiled unknowingly at the sight of the baby boy, remembering how sweet Henry had been at the same age. For a moment, she forgot all her worries and focused only on the baby in her arms, until she sensed someone watching her.

"What ?" She raised an eyebrow at the baby's mother. She had no idea how long Snow had been standing there.

"Nothing." She replied with a grin. "Here." She handed her the bottle.

"Are you sure ?" She asked, uncertainty in her eyes.

"Of course." Snow assured her. "It's not like you haven't done it before. Let's just sit."

Once seated at the table, Regina took the bottle without a word and placed it in the prince's mouth. Snow sat across from her and was contemplating her son and stepmother. It was truly incredible how far they had come. She had been forced to send her first child away because of Regina's curse and had missed 28 years of her daughter's life. And now, her former archnemesis was holding her second child, and looked at him in awe, totally focused on feeding him. In that moment, she knew the Queen would never be a threat to her son and that the Evil Queen was no more.

The baby wasn't hungry anymore and turned his head away from the bottle. Unlike his sister who could piss her off in record time, Neal had a way of calming her at the same fast speed, she pondered. Thinking about the Savior suddenly reminded her of why she was here in the first place. She set the bottle on the table and raised her head to meet Snow's gaze. She appreciated the fact that the other woman hadn't harassed her with questions.

"I'm sorry." She broke the silence, before she even realized the words were out of her mouth. "Not about what I did, but about how I did it." She clarified. "Locking myself in was childish." She admitted.

"Aren't you going to say something ?" She pratically yelled at Snow when the woman didn't respond. She had thought the Princess would have thrown a grand speech about redemption, happiness and love. Not that she wanted to hear any sappy pep talk. But a confession and an apology were absolutely exceptional for the Queen.

Snow stood up silently and opened her arms. For a moment, it looked like she was going to hug her but then she glanced at the baby boy's closed eyes and she understood. She placed him back into his mother's arms and waited as the Princess went to put the sleeping child back in his crib. When Snow returned, she sat down in front of her.

"Regina..." Snow leant toward her, touching lightly the Queen's hand resting on the table. "I..." She paused again. "We understand that you needed time. But yeah, locking yourself in wasn't the best way to do it. We were worried you were going to do something stupid, even Robin..." She trailed off, sensing Regina tense at the thief's name. She cursed herself silently for bringing him up. "Just, please, next time you need some time alone, please don't shut us out completely. You're part of this family, whether you want it or not. And we're here for you. So please don't forget that." She begged her stepmother softly once more.

Regina looked down at the table. Upon hearing _his_ name, her whole body went rigid. The pain of his lost hit her again like a train going at the speed of light. She tried to quiet down this feeling as much as she could. But it was a lost cause and she was certain Snow had seen the flicker of hurt on her face.

_Even Robin. _She had said.

_Even Robin what ?! _She strongly wanted to shake the answer out of Snow. The thought that Robin still cared for her in some small way despite his wife's return made her heart flutter. And even though her head knew that her most vital organ was not to be trusted, her heart was currently winning. She could feel her previous resolution to let him go weaken little by little. In an attempt to stop this infernal internal fight, she grabbed the baby's bottle with her right hand. She imagined it was her heart and squeezed tight...until it explosed, causing Snow to stand up brutally and bringing her back to reality in the process. She saw the shattered glass scattered on the table, and some on the floor.

"Regina, your hand." The Queen raised her head to look at the princess, not quite understanding why she sounded so alarmed. Then the meaning of her words seemed to register and she looked down. Only then did she noticed that she was bleeding. She raised her hand to examine it closely. There were a few cuts, but it was the sharp piece of glass stuck in her palm that had Snow's voice shaking. She was about to pull it out when she was interrupted.

"Wait." Snow was agitated, raising her hands in front of her. "We should call a doctor, this looks pretty bad." She reached for her phone, on the kitchen countertop.

"Snow ! Don't be ridiculous !" She stopped the other woman's action with the force of her voice.

"But-" Before she could finish, Regina yanked the piece out of her palm in one swift move.

She winced in pain for a millisecond then looked pointedly at her. "Here. See, done." She saw Snow's panicked stare. "Don't worry, it's nothing my magic can't heal." She added softly to reassure her she was fine. Then she rolled her eyes thinking about the absurdity of the situation. Snow looked like she was about to faint but she was the one bleeding.

To prove her point, Regina waived her left hand over the injured one. She focused her magic and smirked when the cuts began to close off. They wouldn't vanish completely but at least they wouldn't bleed anymore. Before they were all healed, she stood up and put her hand in front of Snow, showing her palm.

"See, healed."

"Not all of them." Snow replied. She took the Queen's hand, turning it over slowly so that Regina would see her own palm. Regina frowned. The slash in the middle of her hand had not healed entirely and was still bleeding quite a lot. _What the hell ?_, she thought.

She ignored Snow as she tried to heal it again two more times, focusing all her magic. In vain.

"Damn it !" She muttered under her breath. Her magic was failing her. And she still had no idea why. It was frustating. Without her magic, she was nothing.

Unlike her stepmother who had no clue what was happening, the wheels in Snow's head started to spin as she remembered Belle's explanation. The red-headed had said that Regina and Robin would become different. Up until now, Snow couldn't see any big difference in Regina's behavior even if she was trying to hide the pain behind her usual self. But magic was a big part of Regina, and it was clearly beginning to change. Was it possible that her magic was failing because she was separated from her soulmate, Snow wondered. She had to talk to the Golds about it.

She saw Regina's exasperation increased as well as the small drops of blood on her floor. "Regina, stop." She demanded calmly, putting a soft hand on her forearm. She quickly grabbed a clean cloth from the kitchen. "Let me." She slowly wrapped it around the wound.

Regina kept her eyes on the injury until Snow was done. Then she raised her head and looked her in the eyes. She didn't know what to say. She hadn't meant to frighten her nor show weakness in front of her former enemy. But still, she genuinely welcomed Snow's caring gesture. As she was about to thank her, the front door swung open quickly, startling them both.

She turned her head to see Emma, still holding the door handle.

"Regina..." It sounded awfully like a sigh of relief. She hadn't excepted the Savior to be here, she was supposed to be at the Station. The Queen was already cursing all the gods of the universe in her mind until she heard another voice behind the Sheriff.

"Mom !" He shouted surprised, and for a second she held her breath, not knowing how he would react.

But as her son dashed past Emma and threw himself in her arms, she felt a wave of relief wash over her. With a smile on her lips, she returned his embrace, closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment.

"I missed you." He whispered against her chest.

"I missed you too, my little prince." She replied softly, and kissed the top of his head. "I missed you too."

_Yes, her son would have to be enough._

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**So...what did you think of this chapter?**

**Also, if you have any remarks or suggestions about the story, let me know. :)**

**Thanks for reading !**


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